Kitchen Counter Top Remodel – Tropical Brown Granite

This project was counter top upgrade from the original white tile that was around 5 years old to a full custom tropical brown granite slab counter top. A travertine back splash was also be installed from the counter top to the cabinets giving the kitchen a real rustic character and a beautiful finish. The stainless steel appliances were not replaced however a counter depth stainless steel refrigerator will be added to match the sleek look. A new ultra wide single basin deep under mount sink will be replacing the old double sink along with a Hansgrohe retractable faucet. If you haven’t seen a sink like this before its amazing. You can easily put your largest of pots and pans in together with the handles of this large cookware easily staying inside the sink and not protruding out like in most sinks. Above are the before photos of the kitchen.

As far as the tropical brown granite is concerned, I would recommend a granite slab over the prefabricated granite counter tops for this project because it was a larger kitchen and it had a bar top as well. If you are not familiar with the difference pre-fabricated granite counter tops are pre cut granite into 24″ x 8′, 10′, and 12′ lengths with a bull nose edge. Pre-fabricated counter tops for bar tops are also difficult to find. Another downside to prefabricated slabs is that all the pieces of granite may not match so you must inspect your pre-fabricated counter tops and compare their colors closely against one another. Seams in the granite where the slabs connect usually are more frequent with pre-fabricated counter tops if you are dealing with a large area. As well, under mount sinks cuts can be performed but usually they cost extra. Pre-fabricated tops do have an upside if you have a smaller kitchen. They are considerably cheaper then slab granite and work well for smaller kitchens or when you are dealing with a rental income property.

Granite slabs are exactly what the name suggest. They are essentially large pieces of granite that can be cut into whatever shapes you need. They look better in the way that the seams are less and you can choose what kind of edge you desire. The downside of slab granite is the higher cost for the granite as well as a higher price for all the custom cuts. The kitchen came out beautifully when it was finished using the slab. There were only seams at the corners due to the large slab that we were able to find. As well the color matched perfectly and it all came out stunning.

Demolition and installation took 2 days so your downtime is minimal. Granite really modernized a kitchen and it is an upgrade to the home that you will recuperate your investment when you resell.